1. Field
The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to automated formation of local networks using alternate connected interfaces.
2. Background
A network in which member nodes obtain services in the absence of server-based infrastructure is referred to as a “peer-to-peer” overlay network. In a peer-to-peer overlay, peer nodes co-operate with each other both to provide services and to maintain the network. Peer-to-peer overlay networks can be built on top of an underlying network that provides host to host connectivity, such as a network utilizing an Internet Protocol (IP). Examples of an overlay network include, but are not limited to, the Internet (e.g., overlay on a telephone network), Chord, Content Addressable Network (CAN), Pastry, and Viceroy. In general, nodes in an overlay may not all be able to communicate with each other pairwise. However, they may all communicate with one another via the overlay through multi-hop underlay routes.
Typically, when mobile devices participate in content sharing or collaborative applications, such as gaming or picture exchange, they form a network through a communication interface (e.g., Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN)) that is connected to a common shared medium (e.g., the Internet). This approach, however, is inefficient in that it does not allow direct communication between mobile devices that are in close physical proximity to one another, but rather requires the devices to communicate across the Internet potentially over multiple IP hops and end hosts. Such communication can cause delays and increased power usage due to the use of cellular interfaces, and usually results in lower bandwidth and higher costs to the users.
However, problems exist when mobile devices that are either in range or out of range of one another attempt to form an ad hoc network. In this case, the mobile devices may be unable to decide on a common network configuration to establish a common network (i.e., on the same channel with the same parameters), and will typically form two separate ad hoc networks as a result of failing to locate one another.
Another problem with ad hoc network formation on a local level is establishing a network configuration. All devices are required to agree ahead of time on a certain network configuration, which is a difficult distributed problem to solve. In addition, such networks are formed based on physical proximity and hence agreement to form such networks may need to be done on a spatial basis.
Therefore, improvements in apparatus and methods of local network formation are desired.